A police investigation has been launched into alleged postal-voting fraud in Staffordshire during the General Election.
A complaint of electoral fraud was made yesterday to Staffordshire Police by the returning officer for Stoke City Council, Paul Hackney.
It concerns a bundle of 43 postal votes relating to the Stoke North constituency, which was held by Labour's Joan Walley with a 10,036 majority.
The identification slips, containing the signature of the voter and a statement validating the voter's identity, were found to have been torn off the documents.
Detective Sergeant Karen Banner, of Staffordshire Police, said she was not able to give exact details of the allegation.
But she revealed the returning officer told them the votes "appeared to have been tampered with".
